History-Making NFL Player Deported By ICE After Months In Notorious Detention Center
This article was originally published on Total Pro Sports.
Former Indianapolis Colts linebacker Daniel Adongo has been deported from the United States after spending several months in federal immigration custody.
Fox News Digital reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed the 37-year-old from Chicago on June 20. Adongo had been held at the Miami Correctional Facility in Indiana after entering ICE custody in 2025.
ICE Chicago assistant field office director Douglas Thompson confirmed the deportation in a statement released to Fox News.
“This dangerous individual was clearly a threat to the community, which is now safer since he’s been removed,” Thompson said.
Thompson added that immigration laws apply equally to everyone, including former professional athletes.
“Those who violate immigration law are held equally accountable, including former professional athletes,” he remarked.
Adongo became one of the NFL’s most unique international success stories after the Colts signed the former Kenyan rugby player in 2013 through the league’s international pathway. Despite having little football experience, he appeared in five regular-season games across three seasons before Indianapolis released him in 2015.
Mental Health Struggles Overshadowed Daniel Adongo’s Promising NFL Career
Adongo’s football career unraveled as legal and mental health issues mounted. Police responded to multiple incidents after his release from the Colts, although several cases ended without convictions or were later dismissed.
In 2017, a judge ordered a psychiatric evaluation after Adongo faced charges involving an Uber driver. Doctors later found him incompetent to stand trial before treatment restored his competency.
Court records also documented a schizophrenia diagnosis. A mental health social worker later speculated Adongo could also be suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. However, medical experts can only confirm CTE after death.
Adongo later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief and served six months in jail. Other charges filed in subsequent years were ultimately dismissed.
His deportation marks another chapter in a story that began with historic promise. Adongo became the first Kenyan-born player to appear in an NFL regular-season game, a milestone that still stands today.
